US court blocks NYPD stop-and-frisk ruling and removes judge from case | World news | t... - 0 views
www.theguardian.com/...d-stop-and-frisk-appeals-court
surveillance state NYPD courts civil liberties
shared by Paul Merrell on 01 Nov 13
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A federal appeals court has blocked a judge's ruling that demanded changes to the New York police department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy and ordered she be removed from the case.In a victory for the outgoing mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, the court said Shira Scheindlin's ruling, in which she declared the practice to be unconstitutional, would be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city.Scheindlin had ruled that the city violated the constitution in the way it carried out its program of stopping and questioning people. She appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes to the NYPD, and ordered reform to police training and supervision.Those changes will now be delayed pending the outcome of the city's appeal, and Scheindlin will no longer be involved in the case following a ruling that Jonathan Moore, a lead attorney in the federal lawsuit challenging the department's stop-and-frisk practices, said was "unprecedented"."Basically, this court is saying to the citizens of New York, who have followed this case and who were very uplifted by the fact that a federal judge stood up to protect the rights of all citizens of the city of New York … this is the panel of the second circuit saying: 'Drop dead, New York'," Moore said.
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Wow! Stays of injunctions pending appeal are fairly common and it's not unheard of for district judges to be disqualified at the point the appeal is decided for public statements made after an appeal is launched. For example, in U.S. v. Microsoft. But I've never heard of a federal judge being removed from a case before the appeal is decided. In a civil rights case injunction to protect civil rights, this is outrageous.